


Secret Santa's Comin' to Town

by ginger_angel



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Dean and Cas are both seniors, Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, Secret Santa, Writers of Destiel Discord Promptus Exchangarama
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:02:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28297209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ginger_angel/pseuds/ginger_angel
Summary: Dean has been getting some very specific gifts from his Secret Santa at school.  He thinks *maybe* it's Cas considering the gifts he's receiving are exactly what he's been wanting for months now.  If only he could get Cas to confess that he's Santa.  Oh, and maybe he wants Cas to confess a few other things as well.  He's got no plan, but when has that ever stopped him before?Cas got lucky when he was assigned as Dean's Secret Santa for the school's event this year.  He knew exactly what he wanted to get Dean.  He might also be giving himself as a gift, but Dean is just a little to oblivious to figure that out leading up to the final gift.  Cas will make sure Dean knows it with the final gift.
Relationships: Castiel & Dean Winchester, Castiel/Dean Winchester, Charlie Bradbury & Castiel, Charlie Bradbury & Dean Winchester
Comments: 4
Kudos: 48
Collections: Promptus Exchangarama, Writers of Destiel challenge fics





	1. Who is this Secret Santa guy anyway?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hollyblue2](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hollyblue2/gifts).



“Cas?” Dean looks up from his spot on Castiel Novak’s comfy couch as he directs his question towards his friend sitting at his desk. It’s Wednesday, which means hanging out for their normal “study group” at his best friend’s house. Except Dean hasn’t really been getting any studying done tonight. He’s been puzzling over something that has bothered him for a few days now.

“Yes, Dean?” Cas does not look up from his books, but that isn’t surprising. Give Cas the opportunity to get ahead, and he’ll ignore anything else. _Nerd_ , Dean thinks fondly. Cas’ glasses are sliding down his nose and he’s run his hands through his hair so often that it’s practically standing up on end.

“Hey, you wanna turn and look at me for a minute?” Dean sees Cas take a deep breath, remove his glasses and rub his eyes for a moment before turning and giving Dean his full attention.

“Can I help you with something?” Cas asks. It’s cute, Dean thinks, how Cas tries so hard to look stern and imposing, but just ends up looking fond instead. Dean doesn’t know what he would do without Cas sometimes. Cas might always be on Dean’s back to get his homework done and to stop fooling around, but he’s the only one that can keep Dean grounded and on the path to getting out of this town.

Cas might come from a family with money but Dean comes from a single family and will need all the scholarship help he can get in order to pay for college. Dean’s proud to work part-time on the weekends for his Uncle Bobby to save money for himself once he gets to college. Heck, without Cas’ help Dean wouldn’t even be going to college. He’s the one that helped Dean find and fill out all those scholarship applications. Charlie helped, of course, but without Cas pushing Dean to keep submitting them, he wouldn’t be in a place to even accept the offers he received.

“You got your second gift from Secret Santa last Friday, right?”

“You know I did, Dean. You were with me when I opened my locker to find it there.”

“Yeah, I know. It was cute. I would think your Secret Santa is Charlie except she’s sworn on Leia’s bikini that it isn’t her.” Dean was both impressed and surprised to see Cas open his locker to see the cat nurse mug last Friday. Surprised because it was in Cas’ locker and he thought he was the only one with the combination other than Cas and impressed because it was something that Dean had planned on buying Cas after payday. Either Charlie knows the person that picked Cas or that person is just very observant. Dean hopes it is the former.

“I thought it was you that swore on Leia’s bikini, not Charlie.” Cas says with a smirk. Dean tries not to blush because he told Cas in confidence that he wouldn’t balk at wearing the Leia costume as long as it was only Cas and a few others that saw him in it. He wouldn’t be stupid enough to wear it to a party or out in public.

“That was one time! And you know I would look damn good in Leia’s bikini if Charlie ever decides to let me wear it.” Dean tries to turn his embarrassment into bravado and he thinks he succeeds if the glazed look on Cas’ face is any indication. He’s been seeing those looks on Cas’ face more and more lately and it’s giving him hope that the same feelings he thinks he has for his friend would be returned if he could just suck it up and tell him.

“Yes, anyway. We were talking about the second Secret Santa gifts.” Cas clears his throat, bringing Dean back to the issue at hand.

“Right, yeah. So, I got my gift and…” Dean tries not to watch Cas too closely but he is very interested in seeing how his friend reacts. He’s been seeing little things for the past few months that make him think he’s going crazy. Cas has never been a touchy-feely type of guy, but all of a sudden he started making sure Dean knew he was there by lightly pressing his fingers or his shoulder into Dean when Dean felt like he needed the support.

“And? Is that the entire story? You had to interrupt me for that?”

“I mean, how did they know?” Dean tries to sound incredulous because he is. If Cas isn’t his Secret Santa, then he truly doesn’t understand how his Secret Santa would know what to get him. The first gift was the special kind of interior cleaner he uses for his car. Now, lots of people might know to get him that brand because he’s not shy about bragging when it comes to his car. But that kind of thing isn’t cheap either. Cas would definitely be able to afford it, as might a few others, but Dean feels like the stars are aligning just a little too closely.

“What, uh,” Cas hesitates. “What was your gift?” He’s not fidgeting, really, but Dean sees him drawing circles with his fingertip on the desktop.

“It was one of those tabletop robot kits like the ones we saw at ComicCon last summer, remember?”

“Yeah, I remember. I had to drag you away from their booth in order to get back to the Hall H line. You were about ready to say ‘screw it’ to the line just so you could keep talking to the engineer guy showing them off.” They both smile at this memory. It was the first time either of their parents had allowed them to go to San Diego unchaperoned. Dean, Cas, and Charlie had rented a condo close to the convention center thanks to Cas’ dad and his connections.

“Yeah, right. So how did my Secret Santa know to get me one of these?”

“Well, uh, maybe they overheard you talking about those kits when we got back home. I’m sure the whole wrestling team knows you almost spent your entire ComicCon budget on one of those.” Dean thinks back to the late summer training camps he had with the wrestling team. His teammates know about a lot of his interests, but it isn’t something they all stand around and discuss when they are lifting weights or watching each other drill.

“Point of fact, Cas, I didn’t tell anyone on the wrestling team about those robot kits. You and Charlie might be the only people in school that know.” Dean is catching all of Cas’ tells. He isn’t sitting still, wiggling in his chair with every question; he won’t look at Dean and instead is looking at everything in his room but Dean; and he keeps licking his lips. Dean knows he only does that when he isn’t sure how to answer someone. Cas hates to lie, Dean knows this, but Cas is very good at deflecting. Dean has a feeling that he’s doing that now.

What Dean wants to know is why. If it’s the same reason Dean is trying to figure this out, then he’s got all the reason in the world to feel hopeful.

“Charlie could have told your Secret Santa. Um, everyone in school knows that she’s one of your best friends, right?”

“Yeah, I guess that’s true.” Dean feels momentarily deflated, but he’s not going to let it get to him. He’s pretty sure that Cas is his Secret Santa and if that’s the case, then he’s going to surprise Cas when he gets his last gift if it kills him.


	2. I Saw *Someone* Kissing Secret Santa Claus

Cas is nervous, but he is not going to let his anxiety win today. Yes, Dean was asking some leading questions yesterday during their study session. And yes, it looked like he was watching Cas very closely to see how he answered, but Cas thinks he did a fantastic job of making sure he did not react to those questions too obviously.

He and Dean have been in each other’s orbits since middle school when their respective teams started holding practice at the same time and they decided to walk home together if the weather was nice. With Dean on the wrestling team and Cas on the swim team, they were both practicing at the high school and when they both moved to Carver High together 3 years ago, neither even brought up not continuing their unspoken agreement to stick together on the way home.

Cas isn’t quite sure when his feelings for Dean started moving from friendship towards something more, but he thinks he did a good job of hiding it from Dean. But if Dean is starting to ask questions, Cas isn’t sure he’s hiding much of anything anymore. Charlie has known about his crush on Dean for at least the past year. He’s not sure any of his other friends pay enough attention to his love life, or lack thereof, to know that he wants to date his best friend. He wasn’t really interested in anyone prior to Dean either so it’s not as if he’s got dating history.

Maybe it’s time to move to the next phase in his plan. He’d received some paperwork he was waiting on just a few days ago. Thanks to his family, he was able to put down first and last month’s rent on an apartment instead of having to stay in the dorms for college. He knows Dean is not excited about staying in the dorms either, so he was hoping to invite Dean to stay with him next year. And if all he could find that he and Dean would be able to afford is a one-bedroom, then they’ll just have to share. He can surprise Dean with it both as the final Secret Santa gift and as some kind of declaration of his feelings.

He pulls out his phone to text Charlie because he needs to make sure that he’s not overthinking it or seeing things that might get his hopes up. If he confesses to Dean and gets shot down, he might just have to pack up and move to Alaska.

Cas @ 5:32 PM – Dean was asking questions last night.

Charlie @ 5:34 PM – abt SS?

Cas @ 5:34 PM – Yes. He suspects that I’m his Secret Santa but he’s not 100% sure.

Charlie @ 5:40 PM – we knew he might. if u went with a less specific gift, he would have no clue

Cas @ 5:42 PM -- What am I supposed to do? I think he almost came out and asked if it was me.

Charlie @ 5:47 PM -- how about you just come clean with the last gift? Put it all out there? Wasn’t that the plan?

Charlie @ 5:57 PM -- Cas? Earth to Cas…

Cas @ 6:02 PM -- What if he says no? What if he runs the other way? What if???

Charlie @ 6:04 PM -- I been telling u for months, hes not gonna say no. He luuuuuuuuvs u.

Charlie is pretty sure about Dean’s feelings, Cas thinks. He thought he was pretty sure too, but then there’s always the chance that Dean treats all his friends like he treats Cas, despite all evidence to the contrary. No, that’s stupid. Dean doesn’t treat any of his friends like that! He doesn’t treat any of the guys on the wrestling team like that. 

Mind almost made up, Cas texts Dean that he’s going to stop by after dinner. Without waiting for confirmation from Dean, he grabs the paperwork he’s going to gift Dean and shoves it in a holiday card, writing  _ From Your Secret Santa _ on the front.

He’s too nervous to eat anything for dinner, so he goes straight to the door, grabbing his coat as he rushes outside.

It’s a good thing they live so close because Cas is freezing by the time he makes it to the door of Dean’s house. He doesn’t bother to knock but just walks in, the way he’s been walking into Dean’s house for years now. Dean is eating a bowl of noodles on the couch with the TV on. Cas thinks he must look like something is seriously wrong the way Dean jumps up off the couch, almost spilling his food in the process.

“Dude, are you okay?” Dean exclaims. “What’s the matter.” He rushes over to Cas and, with the noodle bowl still in one hand, starts checking Cas for injuries. Cas takes a deep breath. It helps that Dean seems so concerned about Cas showing up like his hair is on fire. Cas feels warm all over despite the chilly weather outside.

“Dean, I’m okay. I rushed over here without thinking about how my entrance might affect you. I apologize.” Cas is truly sorry. He hates causing Dean any trouble and he can see how the way he entered Dean’s house might make him worry.

“No, man. It’s okay,” Dean says, running his hand through his hair. “You just had this look on your face like maybe someone died. You wanna go for a drive? Clear your head?”

“What about your dinner?” Dean holds up his noodle bowl.

“You mean this? Yeah, this is my second bowl. I’m cool, Cas. Let me grab my keys and my jacket and we’ll get outta here.” Dean takes his bowl to the kitchen and grabs his keys from the table in front of the garage door. Cas follows him into the garage and slides into Dean’s car. They’ve done this so many times that there’s no need to talk. Cas is too nervous to say anything right now anyway.

Dean hits the button on the automatic garage door opener as he slides into the driver’s seat. He fires up the engine and waits a few minutes for it to warm up before putting his car into reverse and backing out of the garage. Wordlessly, Dean appears to head towards the park at the edge of town. He and Dean often go there to talk about things they don’t feel like they can say in each other’s houses.

Once they pull into the lot, Dean puts the car in park but keeps it running. It’s cold out and neither really brought anything warmer than a jacket. Cas’ anxiety has been ramping up since he got to Dean’s house, but now that they are at the park, he has essentially reached the end of this journey. It’s really now or never and he needs to get it out before he starts to word vomit.

“I’ve got something for you, Dean. But before I give it to you, I want you to understand that if it doesn’t make you happy, this doesn’t change anything for us.”

“Okay, before you vibrate out of the car, what is this all about, Cas?” Dean turns to face Cas on the bench seat.

Cas doesn’t say anything, he just pulls the envelope out of his pocket and hands it to Dean. Dean takes it, but he looks long and hard at Cas before he opens it. Dean doesn’t say anything so Cas doesn’t know what Dean saw before he decided everything was okay and that he could open the envelope. Cas can see Dean’s eyes move as he reads the lease agreement Cas has presented him. Dean picks up the discarded envelope and turns it over.

“I knew it!” Dean’s grin is as wide as Cas has ever seen it and Cas smiles in response. "I knew you were my Secret Santa!" As quickly as it appears, though, Dean’s smile dims as he thinks through what he’s just read. “Wait, Cas, what is this? It’s got your name all over it.”

“I know you said you didn’t want to live in the dorms when you go to college in the fall. I also told you that I don’t want to live in the dorms either.”

“Yeah, we’ve had that discussion.” Dean has the lease held tightly in both hands, Cas notes, as though he’s afraid it’s going to disappear.

“So my family has gifted me the money I need for the first and last month’s rent on this apartment about a mile from campus.”

“Yeah, and?” Dean makes a ‘hurry up’ motion and Cas can’t tell if he’s upset or excited about this development.

“I know it’s a one-bedroom apartment, but I was kinda hoping you would share it with me? Because you’ve been my best friend for years now but somewhere between then and now, I’ve kinda developed feelings for you that are decidedly not friendly and it would be an honor if you lived with me in the apartment as my, as my, uh, my boyfriend or something…” Cas trails off as Dean grabs his face in his hands.

“Cas,” he says.

“Yes, Dean?”

“Shut up,” he smiles before leaning in and softly kissing Cas on the lips. Cas is almost too stunned to reciprocate, but he grins as he kisses Dean back. He’s still smiling as he leans back and looks searchingly at Dean.

“Do you mean it, Dean?” Cas whispers, almost too afraid to break the spell that has developed inside of Dean’s car. 

“Cas, I think I’ve been waiting for this to happen for too long now. I’m glad it was you that took the leap.” He leans back in and Cas can’t help but make a small whimper as he and Dean kiss again and again and again.


	3. We're Only Missing Mistletoe

Much, much later as Dean and Cas sit cuddled in the backseat of Dean’s car, Dean can feel Cas smile against his neck.

“Mmmmmmm, what’s up, buttercup?” Dean leans into the top of Cas’ head, turning to place a kiss on his forehead.

“I think Charlie may have engineered this whole thing,” Cas replies quietly. 

“What makes you say that?” Dean knows Cas can hear the happiness in his voice, but he doesn’t really give a damn. He’s not going to say he’s been hoping this would happen, but this is probably the best Christmas present he’s had in a long, long time.

“She had to have given your Secret Santa the combination to my locker because I’ve only ever given it to you. We know Charlie can hack into anything. She also must have made sure that I picked you for the Secret Santa thing.”

“I think if she had given us each other, it would have been too obvious.”

“I think it was already pretty obvious to everyone but you, Dean.” Cas smiles. Dean huffs because he did not think anyone was being obvious about anything at the time. “I knew that my Secret Santa gifts might tip you off and that you might figure out it was me,” Cas continues softly, “but there’s no way that this could have turned out the way it did without some kind of intervention.”

“I dunno, Cas. Seems like we’ll always figure out a way. We found a way to each other back in 7th grade. We didn’t let high school mess that up. We aren’t going to let college drive us apart either. I’m so excited to live with you next fall. And we’ve got the rest of this year to plan and save for that future.”

“That’s true,” Cas agrees. He turns his face up to Dean’s and Dean can’t resist. He kisses Cas with everything he’s got, leaving both himself and Cas a little breathless.

“Don’t let your family buy us anything, though, okay? I know your folks are going to want to furnish the whole apartment but their taste in furniture sucks.” Cas laughs as Dean tries to look stern, but he fails because he can’t help but smile at Cas looking so carefree. “You wanna head back? I think we should probably check in and let everyone know that we’re okay.

“Yes, Dean,” Cas agrees. “I would say that we’re more than okay, wouldn’t you?”

“Best.” Kiss. “Christmas.” Kiss. “Ever.” Kiss. Dean punctuates each word with a peck to Cas’ lips before one last kiss to his forehead. He slides back into his seat before pulling out of the parking space and heading home with Cas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was so much fun to write! I hope I did my job as Secret Destiel Santa and that my giftee enjoys the story. If there are any typos or anything glaring that needs an edit or a tag, please let me know! Happy Holidays to all!!!


End file.
